Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Ari Laskin on Algorithms, Drone Vision and Military Gaming

The Oxy community is invited to a research talk by Dr. Ari Laskin on Digitizing Representational Ethnicity: Algorithms, Drone Vision, and Military Gaming.

Info

Time:
12:30 AM - 12:30 AM

Sponsor:

The American military’s rapidly increasing use of both computer games and drones has recently drawn tremendous criticism. A dominant component of many of these critiques hinges on the virtualization of killing. Critics typically underscore how gaming has now become a ubiquitous element of militarism, used in recruitment, training, rehabilitation, and actual combat. Where the virtualization of killing has recently caused the greatest concern is with the unprecedented use of drones by a host of United States’ agencies. It is often suggested that the virtual nature of such digital combat fosters soldier alienation and unaccountability because of geographical distance and technological mediation. With the aim of critically evaluating the use of such digital military technology, I trouble the ontological assumptions that these debates rest on. To do so, I will focus on military cultural sensitivity training programs and computational targeting systems. In order to shift the debate, I examine how current military manifestations of virtual automation and digital remote fighting are at once technologically novel yet situated within older epistemologies based on the mimetic representations of race, media, and geography in the nineteenth-century.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Western Asset Internship Info Session

Wetern Asset is one of the world's leading fixed income management firms. Their 10 week internship program is designed to give students career experience while acting as a pipeline to full-time positions within the company. A campus recruiter will be on campus to talk about the program and its goals.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - Thursday, February 20, 2014

Ever wonder how your liberal arts degree would apply to a career in business? Interested in getting hired by the national leader in wine and liquor? Come hear firsthand from a graduate of a liberal arts college about how his education applied directly to his career, starting in a sales position at Southern Wine & Spirits.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Artist's Talk in conjunction with Devon Tsuno: Watershed

Please join us for a public talk by artist Devon Tsuno in conjunction with his exhibition, Devon Tsuno: Watershed.4:30pmWeingart Gallery

The exhibition remains on view through March 8, 2014.

Info

Time:
12:30 AM - 2:00 AM

Sponsor:

Occidental College is pleased to present Devon Tsuno: Watershed, an exhibition of new work by emerging artist Devon Tsuno. Tsuno is a Los Angeles native who uses elements of the city’s urbanscape to create signature iconography. The exhibition will be on view from February 5 through March 8, 2014 in the College’s Weingart Gallery.

As an exhibition, Watershed examines Tsuno’s deep relationship with regional waterways, especially the San Gabriel and Los Angeles Rivers and their tributaries. Through his research and experiences, the artist, a lifelong local fishing enthusiast, developed an interest in the non-native plant life that has grown up in the waterways and has become part of the ecosystem. Tsuno photographs the various watershed elements. He distills the images to form his highly layered system and creates paintings and prints that depict his perception Los Angeles.

A series of paintings, prints and unique artist books will be included in the exhibition. The paintings are created from a rich mix of media including acrylic and aerosol paints and handmade papers sourced from The Netherlands, India and Japan. Tsuno’s most recent experimentations have resulted in a series of prints created with a Risograph, a 1980s-era printing system using technology similar to fax machines and designed for high-volume photocopying and printing. Additionally, for the exhibition Tsuno has created a series of artist’s books in collaboration with Occidental’s Book Arts classes using both risograph and letterpress techniques. The book project will evolve over the span of the exhibition.

About Devon Tsuno

Los Angeles-native Devon Tsuno currently lives and works in the Mid-City neighborhood of Los Angeles and has exhibited internationally in South Korea, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, Japan, and New Zealand. Recent solo exhibitions include Azusa Pacific University (Los Angeles), Roppongi 605 (Tokyo), and PØST (Los Angeles). Notable U.S. exhibitions include the Hammer Museum Venice Beach Biennial, Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, and Torrance Art Museum. Recent collaborations include projects with Sony and Finishing School. Tsuno was an artist in residence at Chloë Flores FB, and Stichting Kaus Australis in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Look at College Volunteer Opportunity

NPP is looking for Oxy students to help with the Look at College program. The overall goals of the Look at College Program are to make kids excited about education and the college experience, so that in future visits we can continue to instill the spirit of education and achievement that is part of the Occidental College experience.